Tag Archives: 4th of July Party

Real Life :: California Kiddo’s Fresno 4th of July

San Francisco has crazy weather. It’ll be hot and sunny three days in a row and then on the fourth the wind is so cold you’re wearing a wool scarf. In July. I’m not kidding. So when the Fourth of July rolls around we high tail it outta here and head down south to visit some of our very best friends, Dan & Lisa, who live in Fresno. Now you may be thinking, “Wow, Fresno….pretty posh Alix!” but lemme tell ya, WE LOVE IT THERE! Besides getting to spend quality time relaxin’ with special friends, they live in a terrific neighborhood on this awesome cul de sac. It reminds me of that famous Bill Owens’ photo from his amazing 70s SUBURBIA book. Where this woman is leading a parade down her block, waving a big American flag. Our Fresno getaway is on a very retro cool block. Our friend’s have a pool and we swim and BBQ and just totally relax. (Lisa and I always manage to sneak away for some fun girlie time…either a pedicure or some high quality movie viewing involving something classy like, you know, vampires) One of my favorite parts is how the whole neighborhood gets involved on the Fourth of July—there is a kid’s parade, bouncey house, and of course fireworks and sparklers at night. Here are some pictures of our crazy fun weekend:

We forgot about the bike parade and had to do some quickie SUPER DOWN AND DIRTY homemade decorations for Wolfie’s bike.

I feel like I should make a joke about my hubbie’s bangin’ booty. Pop pop pop!

Oh my god it was over 100 degrees and I looked like a HOT MESS (literally)  the entire day. This is a testament to how I luv ya—I’m showing you me in all my beet-faced glory. Hewww….of course Wolfie looks rosey cheeked and cute. Damn kids.

Of course there’s always a cakewalk. Greg and Lisa both won on their first try.

The liddle kiddle parade is my fave though….it’s super cute and the kids really get into it. Our friend Flo is down there on the right pushing her lil man Alastair. She made homemade ice cream sammies with home made peach ice cream and they were DEEEEEE-lishus!!

Aw yeah! The pink Malibu Barbie car was back! Whooo hoo! This little girl is there every year. She almost ran me down, but she’s so fab I forgave her.

Our neighborhood doesn’t really have sidewalks, so we’ve been slow on the bike riding dealie with Wolfie. He finally got a little cruiser with training wheels and he was totally into it! The training wheels have that wibble wobble thing where the bike suddenly leans to one side, making Wolfie shriek (in a manly way) and totally reminded me of being a kid….remember how the training wheels would bobble and you thought for SURE you were gonna wipe out?

So that’s part of our weekend! I’ll spare you photos of us looking awesomely sweaty (but then jumping in the pool a zillion times to cool off). We came back to San Francisco and, as predicted, there was a chill in the air. Oh well, it was nice to get a lil taste of summer—even if it was just for a weekend.

What did you guys do? Did you stay close to home or did you go someplace fun?? Hope you all had a fun time too! (PS UPDATE: Greg is leaving for work and WEARING A SWEATER. I’m seriously contemplating tights with my dress. IT’S JULY SAN FRANCISCO!!! *sigh* Always the rebel….)

Link Lovin’ Friday.

Oh Friday Friday, one of my bestest days of the week! So glad you are here my friend…and so glad YOU are here too, lovely readers. Just wanted to share some fun things with you that caught my eye this past week:

Summer has kicked into high gear and I’m sure many of you have little roadtrips and family outtings planned. I loved this sweet USA cork board that the lovely Grace over at ever-inspiring design*sponge created as a fun way to map out your travels. I think it would be really fun to make one shaped like your state (HOLLA MICHIGAN!).

To find out how to make one of these for yourself, swing by design*sponge.

My friend Jenny turned me on to her sweet pal Andrea of Hula Seventy. She’s officially on the top of my list of “Girlies I Need to Know Better”. Her photography is so dreamy and these snaps from their summer of Road Trippin’ makes me smile.

Find more awesomeness over at Hula 70.

Our sweet pals Jamie and Jacinda at Prudent Baby always have such fun crafty ideas. I love these red, white and blue jelly beans pouches.

Complete instructions over at Prudent Baby. Or, you know, bribe someone crafty like Dottie to help you out.

Speaking of my Crafty Gal Pal, THIS ONE GOES OUT TO YOU MISS DOTTIE! You are a little slice of heaven, lady. Thanks for being such an awesome travel buddy last weekend! *mwuah!*

Found on Scissoring via Grosgrain Fabulous.

One of my other favorites is the brilliant Teri over at Giddy Giddy. Look at this adorable Fourth of July romper she made! Yeah. Vintage Rhino fabric?? So good.

Find even more inspiration over at Giddy Giddy.

My darling girl Pilgrim is so thoughtful. Even though she’s an Aussie, she did this bang up 4th of July Etsy roundup just for her State-side pals! As usual, she has read my mind and procured a charming collection of EVERYTHING I LOVE. Sigh.

Don’t forget we have an AMAZING $50 Gift Certificate giveaway happening for Draw! Pilgrim. Enter today!

One of my new favorite finds is Make Something Happy, from the ladies of Rock, Scissor, Paper. I loved this flashback post they did on last Fourth of July where they had a CAKE vs PIE throw down party! What a cool idea, huh.



Just in case you were wondering….CAKE WON! Check out the full Cake vs Pie Battle over at Make Something Happy. It’s awesome.

And finally….a little Fourth of July Sweet Treat for you to watch with the Kiddos. This little short from animation rockstars PES just makes me smile. Fireworks + Peeps= AWESOMENESS. Hope you dig it!

Have a super duper HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY my friends! We will be in a BBQ induced food coma on Monday and taking the day off. We’ll be back again on Tuesday and will expect a full report on yer weekend. Over and out!